The first and second novels ME and Predators Gold have already been translated and Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain are to get the treatment as well.

Here's the official word from Phillip Reeve:

"I sometimes get asked by Spanish readers about translations of the Mortal Engines books - the first two have been out of print in Spanish for years, and Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain never made it *into* print. Well, Maquinas Mortales is out this month, and El Oro del Depredador coming soon.

They're published by Alfaguara, who will be doing the third and fourth volumes in due course too. Covers by David Buisan."

It's a good move by Reeve's publisher as there's 500 million of Spanish speakers around the globe who might be interested in reading on of the greatest adventures ever put to paper !

Artist David Buisan has designed the new covers (above and below) and will presumably do the other two novels as well.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

For Mortal Engines fans the name 'Gideon Crumb' refers to the good Doctor Gideon Crumb, Crumb being the father of Fever Crumb, the titular character of the first prequel novel to the Mortal Engines quartet written by Philip Reeve.

However, for Harry Potter fans, Gideon Crumb will always be the rock'n'rolling wizard who was front man / bag pipe player for the The Weird Sisters. You can check out their groove in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Update: The next two paragraphs are wrong. Pls check the correction below.

It would appear then Phillip Reeves borrowed the name for his novel as a nod to the Harry Potter series. Reeve fills his novels with many references to popular culture so it makes sense he would do such a thing.

Given The Goblet of Fire was published in 2005 and Fever Crumb in 2009, the timing certainly fits in that Reeve would have had enough time to read Rowling's work and then be inspired to include the name in his drafting of Fever Crumb.

Here's a great article with Phillip Reeve in Wired Magazine where Reeve reveals when he finally received contact from Peter Jackson confirming the movie was going ahead, he didn't believe it was really NZ's finest film maker!

Here's the tale:

Originally published in 2001, the film rights to Mortal Engines quickly started circulating the desks of Hollywood executives. Jackson eventually brought the option outright, though it would be over a decade after the book’s debut before the movie progressed any further. Then a year and a half ago Reeve received an email from the New Zealand director, announcing that production was underway.

“I was suspicious at first actually!” he says. “Rumours about the project had slipped out a few years ago and from time to time people would pop up on Twitter asking me about whether Peter was adapting my book. Of course all I could say was ‘Oh I don’t suppose so’ and ‘you mustn’t believe everything you read on the internet haha’. So when the email came through it occurred to me that maybe this wasn’t Peter at all but someone fishing for information."

The message was genuine and in May Reeve got the chance to watch some of the shoot in Wellington. The experience seemed unreal at times. "You’d see all these people going about creating these incredibly detailed sets and acting out something I’d made up in my head years ago. There was a scene I saw with a character called Anna Fang [played by South Korea-born singer Jihae]. She had this long red trench coat and jet black hair and was sitting in this rusty aviators bar; because everything else had all these muted earth tones the contrast made her really stand out. It was pretty much exactly how I’d originally pictured it, so when I saw it I thought, 'That’s me! I did that!’"

The aviator bar Reeves refers to is presumably the 'Gasbag and Gondola'.

There's plenty more in the article including Reeve's thoughts on ME's social commentary, and the revelation he has two alpacas!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Kiwi actor Calum Gittens has a role in Mortal Engines as the 'Chief Navigator'. This is as stated on IMDB so is subject to correction. We presume Chief Navigator refer to a job piloting London Traction City.

According to IMDB, Kiwi actress, Sarah Peirse is playing Dr Twik in the Mortal Engines film.

Peirse has had a very long association with Peter Jackson productions, going back to Heavenly Creatures in which she played the ill fated mother. She's had a few parts in the Hobbit triology.

She's actually had a pretty decent go of a career as an actress having made a name for herself in Vincent Ward's The Navigator and having played many roles on stage and on NZ and Australian TV shows.

In Mortal Engines Dr Twix is a scientist in the Guild of Engineers that is responsible for the reanimation of stalkers / turning humans into stalkers. She's faithful to the Mayor of London, Magnus Chrome.